Part 4. Northern Ireland.

I. Composition of the country.

The territory of the United Kingdom of Great Brit­ain and Northern Ireland is historically divided into four parts: 1) England; 2) Scotland; 3) Wales; 4) Northern Ireland.

Part 1. England.

Of the four countries which make up the United Kingdom, England is the largest. It occupies an area of 131,8 thousand sq. km. England is the most densely-populated country of United Kingdom.

England borders on Scotland in the north. In the east it is washed by the North Sea. In the south it is separated from the continent by the English Chan­nel. In the west it borders on Wales and is washed by the Bristol Channel and by the Irish Sea.

The highest part of England is in the west, from where the land gradually slopes down to the east.

The Atlantic Ocean washes the rocky and broken west coast of England, Wales and Scotland and is gradually wearing it away, leaving caves and sandy beaches. On the east coast the land is low and sandy.

The rivers flowing to the east and emptying into the North Sea form deep estuaries well protected from the sea. The greatest port of the country Lon­don is conveniently situated in the Thames estu­ary. The white chalk cliffs of the south coast washed by the English Channel can be seen from many miles out at sea.

As concerns the relief, England can be divided into: Northern England mostly taken up by the low Pennine Mountains, the Central Plain, lowland South­east England, and hilly South-west England. Range of hills as the “backbone of England” is the Pennine Chain.

Religious capital in England is Cantebury.

Part 2. Scotland.

Scotland is the most northern of the countries that constitute the United Kingdom. It occupies an area of 78,8 thousand sq. km.

Scotland is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the north and west and by the North Sea in the east. The coastline of Scotland is greatly indented. In many places deep fiords penetrate very far inland.

Geographically the territory of Scotland can be divided into three regions: the Northern Highlands, the Central Lowlands and the Southern Uplands.

The Highlands are the highest mountains in the British Isles. Their average height does not exceed 20 157 m above sea level, though some peaks are much higher, rising over a thousand metres. Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the British Isles, reaches the height of 1343 m.

The Lowlands are the cradle of the Scottish na­tion. The Southern Uplands seldom rise over 579 m above sea level.

Part 3. Wales.

Wales is a peninsula washed by the sea on three sides: the Bristol Channel in the south, the St. George's Channel in the west, and the Irish Sea in the north. Its territory is 20,8 thousand sq. km.

Geographically Wales may be considered part of highland Britain, the Cumbrian Mountains occupy­ing most of the land. It is an area of high mountains, deep valleys, waterfalls and lakes.

Wales is a region of heavy rainfall brought by the prevailing west winds from the Atlantic Ocean. The valleys are sheltered by the high mountains from cold east winds. The climate is rather mild. Wales has never been densely populated. The Welsh have kept their own language, but English is spoken in town as well.

Part 4. Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland occupies the north-eastern part of Ireland, which is separated from the island of Great Britain by the North Channel. The whole of Ireland was united with Great Britain from 1801 till 1921. In 1921 it was divided into two parts. The larger southern part formed the independent Republic of Ireland (Eire), while Nothern Ireland (Ulster) became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nothern Ireland.

Almost all the area of Northern Ireland is a plain of volcanic origin, deepening in the centre to form the largest lake of the British Isles, Lough Neagh. The greatly indented coastline of Northern Ireland is abundant in rocks and cliffs. Forests are rather scarce, moors and meadows prevail. Northern Ireland has a typical oceanic climate with mild damp winters and cool rainy summers.

Northern Ireland is mostly an agrarian district. On small farms they grow crops, especially oats, veg­etables and potatoes. Large areas are taken up by meadows, where cattle graze. On the river banks and on the coasts the population is engaged in fishing.

II. Who were the Britons?

About 500-600 ВС new people - the Celt - appeared in Britain. They were tall, strong people with long red or sandy hair, armed with iron swords and knives which were much stronger than the bronze weapons used by the native population. They crossed the English Channel from the territory of the present-day France. The Romans called these people Britons and the island - Britannia. In the course of centuries the Britons partly killed the native population, partly mixed with it.

In the year 55 ВС the great Roman general Ju­lius Caesar sailed to Britain with about 12,000 soldiers in eighty ships. When they were near the coast, they saw the Britons armed with spears and swords, ready to fight them. Still the Roman sol­diers landed and fought with the Britons. They won the battle, but did not stay long and soon depart­ed. In the following year Julius Caesar came to Britain again. This time, after fighting the Brit­ons on the shore, the Romans marched north-west where London stands today. The British attacked them in chariots and on foot, but the Romans had better arms and armour, and were much better trained. The Britons could not stop them.

Wales and Ireland.

Both Henry VII and Henry VIII tried to bring Wales and Ireland under English control. Wales became joined to England under one administration between 1536 and 1543. Representatives of local Welsh gen­try were appointed magistrates, and Welsh repre­sentatives entered the English parliament.

In Ireland the situation was more difficult. Henry VIII persuaded the Irish parliament to recognize him as king of Ireland. But when he tried to make the Irish accept his English Church Reformation, he met a stubborn resistance, as the majority of the Irish population were Catholics. Thus Irish nationalism and Catholicism were brought together against English rule. It took Henry a long time to destroy the old way of life and introduce English government in Ireland.

The effect of English rule was greatest in the north, in Ulster, where many good lands were taken from the native Irish population and sold to English set­tlers. Even today most good land in Ulster is owned by Protestants, and most poor land by Catholics.

The position of the Irish Catholics remained miserable under British rule. The Protestant Parliament in Dublin passed laws which prevented the Catholics from taking any part in national life. Catholics соuld not become members of the Dublin Parliament and could not vote in parliamentary elections. No Catholic could become a lawyer, go to university, or join the navy. The Catholics were second-class citizens in their own land. It was only natural that hatred between the ruling Protestant settlers and the ruled Catholic Irish was growing.

In order to increase British control, Ireland was united with Britain in 1801 and the Dublin Parliament was closed. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland lasted for 120 years, until 1921, when the independent Irish Republic was formed.

England and Scotland.

For a long time the Tudors were trying to join Scotland to England. In their attempts to preserve the independence of Scotland, the Scottish kings could not get much support from their nobility, because Scottish nobility was not united: some of them wanted closer friendship with England, and others wanted to remain loyal to the old alliance with France.-Knowing how weak they were, the Scottish kings usually tried to avoid war with England. They made a peace treaty with Henry VII, and James IV, king of Scotland, married Henry VII's daughter Margaret^[1]. But it did not help. Henry VIII made two wars on Scotland. King James IV was killed during the first war. James V, whose army was also badly defeated during the second war, died soon after the war.

Henry VIII hoped to marry his son Edward VI to James V's daughter, the baby Queen of Scots Mary and in this way join the two countries together un­der an English king. But the Scots did not want this marriage and sent Mary to France, where she mar­ried the French king's son in 1558. However, her French husband died soon after their marriage, and |he returned to Scotland. Mary was a Catholic, but during her time in France Scotland had become of fi­nally a Protestant country. The Scottish Protestants did not want a Catholic queen on the throne. There wasa struggle, as a result of which Mary had to escape to England, where she was held by Elizabeth for nineteen years and finally executed.

Elizabeth I never married and had no children. Her closest relative was Mary's son, the Scottish king James VI, and after Elizabeth's death in 1603, he inherited the English throne. So, after a long strug­gle the two countries were united, but, ironically, under a royal dynasty which came from Scotland.

III. Language.

The Celts spoke Celtic, which survives today in the form of Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic. Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic are still spoken by some people, although they have suffered from the spread of English. However, all three languages are now officially encouraged and taught at schools.

English developed from Anglo-Saxon and it is a language of the Germanic group. All the invading peoples, particularly the Norman-French, influenced the English language, and we can find many words in English which are French in origin. Nowadays all Welsh, Scottish and Irish people speak English (even if they speak their own language as well), but they have their own special accents and dialects, so you can tell what part of Britain a person is from as soon as they begin to speak. Sometimes the differences in accents are so great that people from different parts of the UK have difficulty in understanding one an­other. The southern accent is generally accepted as standard English.

The Union Jack.

The flag of the United Kingdom, known as the Union Jack, is made up of three crosses. The upright red cross is the cross of St George, the patron saint of England. The white diagonal cross (with the arms going into the cor­ners) is the cross of St Andrew, the pa­tron saint of Scotland. The red diag­onal cross is the cross of St Patrick, the patron saint of The Union Jack Ireland.

IV. Political System.

Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. Official­ly the head of the state is the king or queen. The power of the monarch is not absolute but constitutional. The monarch acts only on the advice of the ministers.

The hereditary principle upon which the monar­chy is founded is strictly observed. The now reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth, II is a descendant of the Saxon king Egbert.

The monarch, be it king or queen, is the head of the executive body, an integral part of the legisla­ture, the head of the judicial body, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the crown, the head of the Established Church of England and the head of the British Commonwealth of Nations.

The Constitution.

Practically speaking, there is no written constitu­tion in Great Britain. The term "English Constitu­tion" means the leading principles, conventions and laws, many of which have been existing for centu­ries, though they have undergone modifications and extensions in agreement with the advance of civiliza­tion. These principles are expressed in such docu­ments of major importance as Magna Carta, a fa­mous document in English history agreed upon in 1215 by King John and the barons, which set cer­tain limits on royal power and which was later re­garded as a law stating basic civil rights; Habeas Corpus Act, a law passed in 1679, which guarantees to a person arrested the right to appear in court of justice so that the jury should decide whether he is guilty or not guilty; The Bill of Rights, an act of Parliament passed in 1689, which confirmed certain rights of the people; the laws deciding the succession of the royal family, and a number of constitutional acts, separate laws and agreements.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 5535